following suit
by atelophobic
Summary: Lucy discovers that in Real Life, jealousy doesn't really work out too well. That, or Natsu is just incredibly simple. — Natsu/Lucy. AU-ish.


**title**; following suit**  
>pairing<strong>; natsu/lucy**  
>summary<strong>; Lucy discovers that in Real Life, jealousy doesn't really work out too well. That, or Natsu is just incredibly simple. AU-ish.**  
>notes1<strong>; ...i'm back?**  
>notes2<strong>; i ship lucy with everybody. what is wrong with me.**  
>notes3<strong>; beware the overused plot.

**disclaimer**; yeah, i'm way too lazy to create something like fairy tail.

* * *

><p>"...Lucy?"<p>

She sucked in a deep breath and clenched Loke's hand even tighter. She forced a smile and tried to calm herself down.

"You can do this, you can do this, you can do this..." she chanted under her breath, thinking of all the wonderful things she would be doing once she's done with this.

She turned around, trying to capture the grace of a dancer but instead managing to look like an awkward whale on land.

"Natsu! Uh, hi," she squeaked, a little too high and a little too rushed. He only raised an eyebrow at her, eyes focused on Loke's hand intertwined with her own. She studied the floor and made a list to remind herself why this was a good idea.

"Uh. Lucy? You okay?" Natsu asked hesitantly, and her head whipped up. Her grin became more forced and uncomfortable.

"Ah, yeah, of course! Hahaha, of course I am! I'm fine. Haha," she chuckled, flustered. Loke smirked and bent down to whisper in her ear. "It took you about five minutes to reply to his greeting, Luce."

Her face colored rapidly. Loke noted that she looked like a blonde tomato. Lucy noted that she wanted to die in the quickest way possible.

"Hey, Lucy, do you want me to leave you guys alone, or...?" The couple startled at Natsu's voice, and Lucy realized too late that this was a horrible idea. She would never trust Gray's stupid love schemes ever again. Seriously, cliches are never supposed to work.

"Oh, um, right! Natsu, this is my boyfriend, Loke! Loke, this is Natsu!" They both give her bizarre looks.

"Lucy, I've known Loke before you have, remember?"

Her smile faltered and her face positively _burned._ "Right, right, I'm getting ahead of myself. Silly me!" She emitted another anxious laugh. An awkward silence stretched between the trio.

"So," she started tentatively, gazing imploringly at Natsu. "What do you think?"

He blinked.

"Well, you obviously have a really shitty taste for guys."

Lucy's eye twitched. Loke restrained himself from doing something stupid, like starting a fight in the middle of the street.

"...Is that all?" she murmured, trying for a demure voice. Instead, she unintentionally upped her deadly aura by infinity.

Natsu found himself struck with a sudden need for self-preservation and nodded furiously. "Uh, yeah. Oh, look. Someone's calling me and I need to go at this very second, bye!" He walked away as speedily as possible. She watches his pinkish-reddish hair in the midst of the crowd and feels a deep sense of shame. And embarrassment.

Loke drops her hand and weaves a hand through his hair. "Well. That didn't work."

"NO DUH, YOU IDIOT." She promptly kicked him in the shin and felt a small satisfaction from watching him bounce around pathetically, clutching his abused leg. Then a passerby mentioned something about calling the cops on 'that evil blonde girl.'

Lucy woed.

* * *

><p>"AND—AND—OH <em>GOD<em>, HE DIDN'T EVEN FREAK OUT OR ANYTHING! MALES ARE SCUMBAGS."

"I RESENT THAT," screeched the shirtless Gray in the corner. Lucy turned to give him a lethal glare.

"YOU. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. YOU ARE _ABOMINABLE._"

Erza winced as her friend's voice reached unspeakable decibels. She tried to rub her back soothingly. "Shh, Lucy, it'll be okay, it'll be fine..."

Lucy's wrath turned upon Erza. "NO. IT WILL NOT BE FINE. AND IT WILL NOT BE OKAY. NOT NOW, NOT EVER."

"SHUT UP," whined Gray, sulking because his grand scheme utterly failed.

"_YOU _SHUT UP, YOU PROMISCUOUS WHORE."

Gray had the gall to look mildly offended while Loke sighed and decided that it was time to intervene.

"You guys obviously don't know the first thing when it comes to the matters of the heart," he murmured dramatically, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

Lucy's wails subsided as Gray sunk even deeper in his comfortable beanbag.

"I don't understand what _you're _talking about. My plan was foolproof. _Foolproof—_"

"Well, unfortunately for you, Natsu is the biggest nitwit out of all of us. So, obviously—"

"Wait, wait, you guys, I have another brilliant idea—"

"NO, GRAY. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR IDEAS," Lucy violently protested. Her fingers itched for one of the hardcover books by her bed. Erza quietly hid them under her pillow.

Gray was having none of it. "No, wait, hear me out! It involves Little Natsu, and—"

Lucy blanched. "WHAT."

"—you know how the peni—OW LUCY THAT WAS MY FACE—"

Erza mused on his words. "...Have you been reading my trashy romance novels lately?"

"What? _No_." Gray sputtered, staring at Erza with something akin to guilt.

"BE QUIET BEFORE I STUFF YOUR FACE IN. Loke, proceed."

Loke cleared his throat. "Yes, of course, my lady," he said before starting to explain his devious plan.

Lucy's eyes widened with shining hope. Erza could have sworn she saw sparkles meant for bishounen characters twinkling around her friend's figure.

"That... that is perfect. Loke, you are a _genius_."

He only smirked. "I do try my hardest."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Natsu?"<p>

He continued to shovel food in his mouth at a disgustingly fast pace. He managed to make a sort of grunt in reply to Lucy.

"I, uh. I need a date for my father's yearly ball and I was wondering if, um... well..."

Natsu gulped down the remaining food and chugged down some suspicious liquid.

"Uh, _willyoubemydate_? I mean, if you don't mind and if you have time and... uh... Natsu?"

He scratched his head and sniffed his finger. Lucy rolled her eyes, thinking that if she wasn't totally in love with this moron, she'd think he was disgusting. Sadly, she was, so she found him was painfully endearing. She sighed and watched him pick his fingernails with a rusty fork. She doubted he heard her at all.

"...Natsu?"

He glanced up from his hand to see her staring at him with soft features. It almost made him blush, to see her with such a vulnerable expression, but Natsu swatted that feeling away. Natsu was a man. A manly man. And men do not blush under any circumstance.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You didn't hear what I asked earlier, didn't you?"

Natsu looked at her in surprise. "You said something?"

Lucy silently prayed for the patience she knew she would need when dealing with him. "Yes, I did."

"Well, what is it?" He demanded with a child's impatience.

"I just... I need a date to some stupid ball. That's all."

Natsu frowned. And waited. "So?" he prompted.

Lucy swallowed her pride. Again. It tasted like defeat.

"I... need you to be my date. If you want to. Er, I mean—"

"Sure, Lucy, whatever." His brow furrowed again. "Uh, wait, what happened to Loke? I thought you guys were together or something."

Lucy laughed, a little hysterically. She dismissed his comments with a wave of her hand. "Natsu, that's _so_ last month."

He scrunched his face up, perplexed. "But that was yester—"

"OH, LOOK AT THE TIME NATSU. WE REALLY MUST GET GOING. YOU KNOW, TO SHOP FOR CLOTHES AND SUCH."

Natsu paled. "...Clothes?"

* * *

><p>Natsu sprawled on Lucy's bed, watching the owner of the apartment bustle around in a shimmery dress. "Hey, Luce."<p>

"Yeah?" She asked, carefully applying her makeup.

"Why do you put so much of that gunk on anyway? It looks unhealthy."

Lucy huffed and turned around, one of her eyes caked in makeup, the other perfectly clean. She looked quite comical.

"Girls wear makeup to enhance their beauty," she answered robotically. "Duh."

"Yeah, but, you don't need any enhancing. So I still don't understand," Natsu mused honestly.

Lucy felt a pleasant flush on her face, and she was sure it wasn't because of her gaudy makeup. "I—thank you." She started scrubbing her eyes to take off the mascara and eyeshadow.

An abrupt rapt on the door ruined their comfortable silence. "Natsu, get that, will you?"

He grumbled a little and brushed his fancy suit before answering the door.

"Is this Lu—Ms. Heartfilia's apartment?" A messenger who looked suspiciously like Gray asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, the ball is a no-go," the messenger said bluntly.

"...It's canceled?"

The messenger nodded quickly. Natsu slammed the door, muttering curses under his breath.

"The ball thingy is canceled, Lucy!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? I SPENT ALL THIS TIME TRYING TO... ugh, never mind. I didn't want to go to the stupid thing, anyway," Lucy sighed, feigning ignorance.

Natsu flopped on the bed, loosening his already crooked tie. "So, what do we do now?"

"Dunno."

"Okay, so, can I go to sleep?"

"No, wait!" She blurted.

"What is it this time, Lucy?" Natsu questioned, feeling exhausted from all the shopping he did earlier.

She felt herself blush. "I was just thinking how we went through all that trouble of picking out clothes for nothing..."

"You're asking me on a date?"

Lucy nearly fell flat on her face. Her face rivaled Erza's hair. "Uh, yeah. Sort of."

She nearly choked when she saw understanding dawn on his eyes.

"_Oh_. I get it now. Wow, I'm an idiot," he expressed, eyes widening into saucers. He even slapped his forehead a little and frowned when it stung.

"You get it?" Lucy mouthed, a bit mortified but relieved at the same time. She coughed. "Well, it's about time," she said with confidence that she didn't feel.

She watched as he moved closer, a rare pensive look on his face. He didn't stop until he bent over her chair, their foreheads almost touching. She didn't dare breathe, much less move.

"Uh. Hi? Personal space, Natsu," she squeaked. From this (lack of) distance, she could tell he was sort of blushing too. It made her oddly pleased.

He grinned suddenly. "I've always wanted to do this." Then he gave her a soft kiss right next to her lips. She shivered. He was such a tease.

Throwing precaution away, she rested her forehead against his. "I love you," she confessed, at the same time Natsu muttered, "Sure, I'll help you get Loke back. Jealousy always works, right?"

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><p><strong>notes4<strong>; excuse any grammatical errors, please. i haven't edited much. whoops.

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><p><strong>epilogue<strong>; "_ARE YOU AN IMBECILE? YOU KNOW WHAT, NEVER MIND. I'LL JUST BE THE GOOD OLD CAT LADY. SCREW MEN. UGH, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS."_


End file.
